


Death Is Just Another Path

by katling



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Fix-It, Gen, Loki is Loki, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Post-Canon Fix-It, Team Natasha, Team Tony, The Ancient One meddles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-01 06:33:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18794893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katling/pseuds/katling
Summary: "It was the only way."Whether that's true or not, the end result remains the same. But what if 'the only way' has unintended consequences that could doom everyone?Or in other words, why exactly are Tony and Natasha dead and who says they have to stay that way? :D





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> And apparently I'm redeeming Clint again! He does tend to be one of my favourite redeemed characters but he was so promising in Thor and the Avengers and then they ruined him. Boo! So he gets to be the good guy here, despite his actions in the five year gap. *facepalms* I mean, yeah, okay, I got what they were doing with that - Clint goes off the deep end because he can't handle the fact that his entire family got dusted but criminals didn't and that might have been an interesting thing to explore except they displayed it so superficially (and with some really fun overtones of racism too! /sarcasm) and then dismissed it so quickly that I practically gave myself a concussion with how hard I facepalmed. 
> 
> So... about the premise... I think you can argue either way about whether Stephen saw this future, this one way they win, early and then looked for a better solution and never found it or late and grabbed it as a ‘thank god there’s finally a future where we win’ and never looked further. “It was the only way” fits either theory and is tragic either way. 
> 
> “It was the only way” meaning “I found this future early on and looked and looked and looked and there was never any other future where we won but I tried, Tony, dear god, I tried.”
> 
> Or you can have – “It was the only way” meaning “Fourteen million, six hundred and four times I looked and despaired because we lost and lost and lost and then, this way, a way we win, I had to take it, I had to because the odds of there being another way after fourteen million, six hundred and four failures and only one win were not even worth thinking about.”
> 
> This fic explores the idea of the latter. (And yes, Clint is being a little unfair here because even if it was the latter, after 14,000,604 futures of failure, I don’t think anyone can fault Stephen for taking that 14,000,605th future and going with it. But Clint’s not thinking about it in terms of the big picture but as a Dad who got to go back to his family, when Tony didn’t. And yes, while I’m not entirely ignoring Clint’s little descent into being a serial killer, I’m probably not going to unpack it in this fic because ye gods and little fishes but that is a shitshow that probably needs its own fic.)

Clint was the first to figure it out. Or at least, he thought he was. After Stark’s funeral, he’d asked Rhodes for whatever footage he could have from the battle, claiming he wanted to see what had happened to settle things in his mind, so he could go home clear and calm to his family. Rhodes had given him a long, hard look but there had been a memory stick waiting for him before he’d left.

The footage was rushed and often confused, images flashing and reeling as people fought, blurry and obscured because the camera was damaged or had been half-buried in rubble, but Clint hadn’t been lying when he said he saw better from a distance. Whether that distance was physical, emotional or the distance of time, he always saw things better. And now… what he’d seen in the footage combined with what he’d been told as they planned out the heist made him stop and watch it again and again and again over the next few days.

14,000,605.

That was what Stark had told them. The sorcerer Strange had seen 14,000,605 potential futures and in only _one_ of them had they succeeded.

From what Clint had seen from the battlefield footage and comparing that to the look in Strange’s eyes at Stark’s funeral, he was willing to bet that the winning future had been the 14,000,605th future and Strange hadn’t bothered to look for anything more. Something different. Something better. Something where Stark might have lived to go home to his daughter. Something where Nat hadn’t had to die.

But now he didn’t know what to do. In other times, he’d have called Nat, talked to her but that… that wasn’t going to happen ever again.

Cap was nowhere to be found and when he’d spoken to Barnes and Wilson, he was pretty sure they knew where he’d gone. Not that they were saying anything about it. The message was clear though. Cap was a non-starter.

Wanda… yeah, no. She might give the appearance of neutrality regarding Stark these days but Clint hadn’t missed the hard, _knowing_ looks Potts and Hogan had given her and the way they’d carefully kept Morgan as far from Wanda as possible. They knew something about Wanda that he didn’t and while they’d been willing to keep up appearances at the funeral, they weren’t willing to trust her one inch. Once he might have taken umbrage at that but… not these days. 

Rhodes… was a possibility but Rhodes wasn’t in the country right now. He was in Wakanda at the invitation of T’Challa and Shuri. The princess had muttered something about why should she spend all her time fixing broken white boys when there was something far better she could be doing. Clint had a feeling he knew what that was about and he wished the Colonel luck. 

Besides, with the clarity of distance, he knew that Rhodes didn’t like him one bit. Sure, Natasha had told him that Rhodes had welcomed them back, been all friendliness and amiability under the threat of world-ending terror, and they’d all bought the act. But clarity of distance and all… yeah, Clint could see the truth. Rhodes did not like any of them one bit and Clint had his own special little place in hell in Rhodes’ heart. It might have eased a bit in the wake of everything they’d been through but it was still there. He’d heard about what Clint had said at the Raft, no doubt. It made him wince these days. He’d been angry at himself, at everyone, and Stark had been an easy target.

Potts and Hogan… nope, Clint wasn’t going there. They had never liked the Avengers. That much had been pretty obvious. People thought Potts didn’t like the Iron Man suit but he was pretty sure it had never really been the suit that was the problem, given what she’d turned up in at the battle. It had never been the suit but the people, the Avengers, and what they brought to Stark. What they’d _done_ to him.

Besides, Potts and Hogan had their hands full with Stark Industries, with Morgan, with the tall gangly kid who’d turned up to the funeral out of nowhere and was apparently a co-heir to all things Stark along with Morgan, with the new partnership between SI and Wakanda, with a hundred other things. And they didn’t need to hear Clint raking things over for his own benefit. Or worse offering them anything remotely resembling false hope.

The sorcerer… yeah, _no_. He didn’t think he’d get a straight answer out of _him_.

Fury or Maria were a maybe but… he wasn’t sure what they’d do with the information and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. The world was rebuilding and putting things back together. Maybe they needed some time to do that without SHIELD’s machinations for a while.

He leaned back in his chair and looked out to where his kids were playing and a thought came to him – Danvers. She’d returned for the battle and he’d heard she was sticking around for a bit. She’d been speaking to Rhodes a lot – apparently they knew each other somehow – and there’d been talk that she was going to make Earth her priority for a little while.

And she was a third party, uninvolved in all their drama and shit. Maybe she could give him an objective view. Or at least an uninvolved ear to settle his thoughts.

“Made a decision, huh?”

He turned lazily in his chair and smiled at Laura, so, so grateful to have her back. “Um… maybe.”

Laura chuckled and shook her head, walking over to run her fingers through the hair that was growing out on the sides of his head. “You’ve been worrying at something like a dog with a bone ever since you watched that footage. Go. Do what you need to do. It’s fine. We’ll be here.”

Clint hesitated. He was getting better at letting them out of his sight these days, though there was always that low level panic when he did. Laura had insisted he see a therapist and the therapist said that it wasn’t uncommon among those who’d survived the snap and had gotten their loved ones back in the reverse. 

“Yeah, okay,” he said slowly. “I don’t think I’ll be more than a day or two. This isn’t a thing. It’s just… a _thing_ , you know?”

Laura laughed. “Yeah, I know.”

Clint gave her a quick smile then reached for his phone. Hopefully Danvers would have time to talk to him in the next couple of days before he got caught up in his head too much more.

*****

“Mr Barton, come in.”

Clint gave Danvers an awkward nod as he walked into what had once been Nat’s office after the snap. Not that he’d been in it much but after she’d dragged him home by the scruff of the neck, she’d showed it to him. The wry tiny smirk on her face had told him she was as amused by the idea of her being official enough to have an office as he was. Not that the amusement had been great in those days but still… it had been there. One small glimmer of joy in an otherwise bleak existence.

He sat down in the chair she indicated and fidgeted as she returned to her own seat on the opposite side of the desk. It almost got his hackles up but the way she slouched in the chair set him at ease. This wasn’t a hardass superior officer who was judging him. Well, she was clearly assessing him but she seemed pretty open-minded.

“So what’s this about?” she asked, her head cocked slightly to one side. “If it’s about the Avengers Initiative, Fury did give you a pretty good…”

Clint shook his head to stop her. “No. No, it’s not about that. I’m… retired. I mean, sure, call me in if there’s something big but… my family…”

Her face softened a little. “Okay. So what brings you to me?”

Clint grimaced. “I need…” He shook his head. “I saw something and I… don’t know what to do with it. I don’t know if anything _can_ be done with it but it’s going round and round in my head and I…”

“Need to talk to someone who was there,” Danvers said, her expression knowing. “Since I’m guessing it has something to do with Thanos. Jim told me you’d asked for the footage from the battle.”

“I see better from a distance,” Clint said, the words falling from his mouth almost automatically. “I… forgot that for a while there.”

Danvers nodded. “Okay. So, what did you see?”

Clint stared past Danvers and out the window behind her. “Did… did Rhodes tell you about Strange and what he saw?”

Danvers nodded again. “Yeah, he did. 14 million and some futures and only one where we won.”

“Yeah,” Clint said and now he looked back at Danvers. “I don’t think Strange was telling the whole truth.”

“You think he saw other ways to win?”

“I think he never bothered to look,” Clint said bluntly. “I think he got to the fourteen millionth, six hundred and fifth future, saw that we won and didn’t give a shit that Tony died. Or that Nat died. He didn’t bother to look further to see if there was a better option.”

Carol leaned back in her chair and looked thoughtful. “And you want to do… what with this information?”

Clint shook his head, frustrated and annoyed with himself. He got up and started pacing. “I don’t know! I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if there’s anything that _can_ be done. I just know that I don’t think Strange can be trusted with anyone’s welfare except his own. I think people in the right places need to know that.”

Danvers gave him a long look then turned to stare into the distance. She was silent for a moment as Clint calmed himself and sat back down again then she nodded to him.

“I think you’re right. I think that is something we need to know.” She paused briefly. “We’ve been considering reaching out to the sorcerers as we rebuild the Avengers but this… we’ll have to review what we were planning. We might still need them but you’re right that we need to take care.”

Clint felt himself relax in a way he hadn’t been able to since he saw the footage. His relief must have been obvious because Danvers smiled slightly. She then cocked her head.

“Did Stark know?”

Clint was silent for a moment as he reviewed what he’d seen. “I think he did,” he finally said. “I think maybe he always knew. Or at least suspected. I think that’s why he pulled back so thoroughly and completely after he got back. He knew subconsciously and he didn’t want to waste a moment that he’d been given.” He looked away and smiled faintly. “Good on him. Did better than I ever did.”

Carol seemed to accept that then she drew in a breath and let it out. “Okay. I’ll talk to Jim when he gets back from Wakanda and we’ll… rethink our approach to the sorcerers.” They both got up and shook hands. “And Barton? Thank you.”

Clint nodded and made his way out of the office. He paused to look around the Compound. It was still largely in ruins but there were signs that it was being rebuilt and not just from the small temporary buildings like the one he’d just been in. And from what Danvers had said, she and Rhodes were looking to rebuild the Avengers too. It sounded good but not something he wanted a part of unless the world was ending again. He’d lost too much to want to throw it away now that he’d gotten it back. He’d learned his lesson.

******

Carol gave a low wolf whistle and grinned. “Looking good, Rhodes.”

Rhodey grinned at her and made a few little dance moves on his now brace-free legs. “Shuri does good work.”

“She sure does.” Carol came up and gave him a gentle punch on the arm. “Wakanda agreed with you.”

“It’s a nice place,” Rhodey said with a nod. “But I’m glad to be home.”

“How’s Morgan?”

Rhodey’s grin widened even as it was tinged with sadness. “She’s good. Gonna be as troublesome as her Dad in a few years. Though…” His face fell. “I think it’s finally starting to sink in that the funeral meant that Daddy’s never coming home.”

Carol sobered and threw an arm around Rhodey’s shoulders. “She’s strong and she’s got Pepper and Hogan and May and you. And those two boys. She’s going to be fine.”

Rhodey gave her a watery smile. “Yeah, I know. She’s Tony’s kid. She’s going to take on the world and win. Her and Peter and Harley and Shuri. The future’s in good hands.”

“And until they take over the world, it’s up to us to keep things ticking over,” Carol said as they made their way into her office where they slouched down on the couch she’d shoved against one wall. “So… I had a visitor the other day.”

“Yeah? Who?”

“Barton.”

Rhodey raised an eyebrow. “Barton? I thought he was off playing happy families.”

“He is but he picked up something in the footage you gave him.”

“Yeah? What?”

“It’s about Strange,” Carol said, her eyes narrowing. “He thinks that Strange… didn’t exactly look for alternative possibilities once he found one that worked.”

Rhodey went still as that sank in. “Oh? How did he figure that?”

“I wondered at that myself so I went and looked at the footage.” Carol frowned as she slumped down a bit more. “I can’t see what he did but I’m not inclined to disbelieve him either. He wasn’t trying to be malicious or troublesome. He looked… frustrated. Like this was in his head and he had to tell someone, even if there wasn’t anything that could be done.”

“So he thinks…” Rhodey frowned. “The future where Strange saw us win was…”

“The last one he looked at,” Carol said with a nod. “He didn’t look further.” She grimaced. “I can’t say I blame him. I mean, he’d looked at over fourteen million futures and we failed in each and every one. You finally hit the one where we win?” She shrugged. “You take it.”

“But Barton lost someone,” Rhodey said with understanding.

“Yeah. And it wasn’t like Strange was really invested in any of us. To him, it must have been a relief. After 14 million failures, he probably didn’t care what the win would cost, only that we won.”

Rhodey frowned. “It doesn’t make sense though. Tony said something about giving up the time stone being key to it. Surely he didn’t go through fourteen million futures where he _didn’t_ give up the time stone before finally looking at only one where he did and going with that one without looking at other options?”

Carol looked like that question had occurred to her as well. “I don’t know and I’m not sure we’ll get any answers if we ask.”

She sounded frustrated by the end and Rhodey raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Carol grimaced. “I spoke to them about a few other matters. Strange was… annoyingly cryptic about even ordinary things and Wong wasn’t exactly contradicting him.”

Rhodey tapped his fingers on the arm of the couch as he thought it through. “So… we take them at face value and don’t expect loyalty from them. They’ll probably keep to any agreements they make but… that’s it.”

Carol nodded. “That was my thought.”

“And Barton?” Rhodey said after a moment though he failed to keep all of his distaste out of his voice.

“He was fine,” Carol replied, shooting him a knowing grin. “He needed to get that off his chest and I don’t think he had many other options.”

Rhodey grunted then waved a hand dismissively. “Okay. What else has been going on while I was away?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get two chapters to start with because I wanted to actually throw some plot at you. So, here... plot!

“This wasn’t what I expected from death,” Tony said as he looked around the familiar room. He could have sworn he was at the Compound except the Compound had been all but destroyed in the battle. This Compound however was in pristine condition.

“Me neither.”

He turned to give Natasha a half-hearted glare. She was lounging in one of the chairs with her feet up on the table, looking calm and just faintly amused.

“And you’re not the slightest bit concerned?”

“I didn’t say _that_ ,” she said with a wry smirk. “I was just agreeing that this wasn’t what I was expecting.”

Tony gave her another half-hearted glare and began pacing. For a dead man, he actually felt pretty great. All of the damage done by wielding the infinity stones – and everything else he’d been through – was gone, though oddly enough, he had the arc reactor back in his chest. It didn’t hurt like it had done before but it was there, deep in his chest and not detachable. It was just… _there_. He suspected that said some disturbing things about his subconscious but he wasn’t in the mood to examine that too closely.

“What the hell are we waiting for?” he demanded of no one in particular.

“I have no idea.”

He whirled around and his glare was a little less half-hearted this time. “You know, you were a lot less annoying when you were a backstabbing spy.”

Natasha straightened slightly. “Tony…”

Tony waved a hand. “I don’t want to hear it.”

“I’m sorry.”

He stopped pacing and turned to face her fully. “What?”

“I’m sorry.”

Tony gave her a suspicious narrow-eyed look but as far as he could tell, she was being completely sincere. In fact, he knew she was since apparently being dead meant you got to know that sort of thing.

“Right,” he said before turning away.

“I’m sorry for a lot of things,” she continued. “For my behaviour and for… for not telling you about Barnes and your parents. My only defence for that is Steve said he’d tell you and… well, you and I didn’t have the best relationship and I thought it would be better coming from him.” She grimaced. “I… well, I’m not going to say I didn’t know he didn’t tell you because I think I did. I just didn’t want to admit it because…”

“It would ruin your image of perfect Steve,” Tony said with a sneer.

“Something like that,” she said with a sigh. “I was compromised. Are you happy?”

Tony slumped down into a chair opposite her. “Not really.” He gave her another narrow-eyed look. “So why are you suddenly Miss heart to heart?”

“We’re dead, Tony,” she said dryly. “Do you really think there’s any point in lying anymore?”

Tony grumbled under his breath and they were both silent for a while. Then he frowned at her. “Did Barton toss you off the cliff? That’s what Nebula said would happen.”

Natasha closed her eyes, a pained expression crossing her face, and Tony almost apologised then she opened her eyes and snorted wryly. “I won’t say he and I haven’t wanted to toss each other off cliffs in the past but no, he didn’t. We… had a bit of a fight. Both of us wanted to toss ourselves off the cliff to save the other.” She shrugged. “I won.”

“Not sure I call this winning,” Tony said dryly, waving a hand round the room. “Looks more like losing to me.”

“We won, didn’t we?” she challenged. “We got all the stones, Bruce snapped everyone back to life and you made sure Thanos could never try it again. That’s what you told me.”

“Still doesn’t feel like winning,” Tony said quietly and they both fell silent again. They’d discovered quickly enough when they first got here that they could use the screens in the room to see what the living were doing. They’d watched Tony’s funeral together. For a time anyway. Then Tony had left the room, unable to watch anymore. Natasha had stayed, glad for one last chance to see everyone.

“Well, isn’t this lovely.”

They were both on their feet in an instant, whirling around to watch Loki saunter into the room and drop insouciantly into one of the chairs.

“What are _you_ doing here?” Tony said with exasperation as he sat down again. Natasha slowly followed his lead.

“Didn’t Thor tell you?” Loki said, pretending to look surprised. “I’m dead.”

“Yeah, he told us that,” Natasha said. “But what are you doing _here_?” She pointed at the table.

“No idea,” Loki replied idly. “I just found myself outside and decided to come in.”

For all that he sounded completely unconcerned, they could both tell that he was intensely curious and had no more idea what they were all doing here than either of them. 

Tony subsided and stared at the god for a moment. “So… didn’t fake your death this time?”

“Regrettably, no.” He raised an eyebrow. “You wielded the stones. They’ve left their mark on you.”

Tony looked down at himself. “They have?”

Loki rolled his eyes. “Not physically. In a… metaphysical sense. It’s obvious to any decent magic user.”

“Is that why we’re all here?” Natasha said, looking sharp and intrigued. “Tony wielded the stones, I died for the soul stone and you surrendered the space stone.”

“An interesting idea.”

They all turned to looked at the woman who walked in. She was tall and slim and was wearing robes much like the ones Strange wore, though hers were yellow. She was also bald.

“Who are you?” Tony asked.

“In life I was known as the Ancient One,” she replied. “That is as good a name as any now.”

“Okay,” Tony said slowly. “So what’s going on?”

“There is a problem.”

Tony sighed and exchanged a world-weary glance with Natasha. “When isn’t there? What is it this time?”

The Ancient One looked amused at their reaction. “Your deaths weren’t meant to happen.” She looked at Loki. “Yours… was more complicated.”

“I’m pretty sure mine _was_ meant to happen,” Tony said slowly. “Kind of figured out that’s what the one future where we win meant when Strange gave up the stone.”

The Ancient One sighed and looked rather sorrowful and slightly chagrined. “My death was… inconveniently timed. Inevitable but inconvenient. Stephen wasn’t ready for the position he finds himself in. Magically, he is powerful. Perhaps the most powerful sorcerer since Agamotto himself. But…” She grimaced. “I didn’t have enough time to beat the selfishness that his previous career had fostered in him _out_ of him and that unfortunately has caused a problem.”

“In what way?” Natasha asked, leaning forward slightly.

“There is something coming,” she said. “I cannot tell you what it is, only that you both will be needed.” She sighed again. “Unfortunately, the time stone became enamoured of Stephen very quickly and far too early in his training. He has not yet learned to read the eddies of the multiverse and use them to see what is coming. He relies on the stone and the stone is… limited in its outlook. Immensely powerful but it relies on its wielder to guide it.”

“And all that means…?” Tony said, raising his eyebrows.

“That the sorcerer looked for a future in which you won, instead of looking for the best possible outcome,” Loki said dryly. “A subtle difference and a mistake often made by the young and inexperienced.”

The Ancient One inclined her head. “Loki is correct. It is also a result of Stephen’s previous career and… perhaps also the way he went about it. There too he looked to win, not for the best possible outcome. There, he could adjust things to suit himself, take on only the patients that would allow him to win. Unfortunately, magic and the universe don’t work the same way. Something I did not have time to teach him.”

“I’m not sure what this has to do with us,” Tony said. “We’re kind of dead.”

“And you need to not be dead,” the Ancient One replied. She glanced at Loki. “Except for him. He just gets lucky because he’s useful.”

“Well, that’s great for him but how exactly are we supposed to get not dead?” Tony asked. “Are you going to wave your fingers around and portal us back to life?”

“If only it were that easy,” the Ancient One said rather whimsically. “No, there is something you need to do but mostly… you need a champion among the living.”

Tony, Natasha and Loki all exchanged glances. “Right,” Tony said. “And who might that be?”

“That’s up to you but I have a suggestion.” The Ancient One somehow contrived to look innocent as she waved at a nearby screen. It lit up to show Clint Barton teaching his daughter how to use a bow while his sons played catch nearby.

“No,” Natasha said firmly. “His family have lost him enough times.”

“Besides, I doubt he cares much about me and Reindeer Games here,” Tony added.

The Ancient One smiled serenely. “Then why did he go to the Avengers insisting that Stephen had known you were going to die?”

Tony blinked. “He did what?”

“He viewed the footage from the battle, from whatever was available. He picked up that both you and Stephen were aware you were going to die. He was very upset about that.”

Tony blinked again and his face twitched in confusion. “Why?”

“Morgan,” Natasha said quietly. 

Tony still looked confused. “What?”

“Morgan,” Natasha repeated. “He knew you had what he’d never quite been able to achieve. Full time fatherhood. Forget the world, your daughter is the most important thing. Clint was never _quite_ able to achieve that.” She glanced at the screen and at how content Clint looked. “At least not until now.”

“All the more reason to pick someone else,” Tony countered. “Why take him away again now?”

“Perhaps it should be his decision?” the Ancient One said, raising an eyebrow.

Tony looked troubled and Natasha leaned forward a little. “How? How do we ask him?”

“You don’t,” the Ancient One said. “It will be arranged. You three have another task.”

Tony frowned at them. “If he says no, pick someone else. Don’t pressure him.” He shook his head. “Why do you think I never called him when the Accords mess kicked off. He was _retired_.”

The Ancient One inclined her head. “If he says no then…?”

“Rhodey?” Tony said hesitantly.

Natasha shook her head and smirked. “Fury,” she said firmly. “Let him earn his keep for once.”

Tony stared at her then let out a bark of laughter. “Yeah, okay. If Clint says no then Fury.”

“Very well.” The Ancient One squared her shoulders. “Now, as for you three, you will be busy.”

******

“I’m sorry, Dad.”

Clint looked down at his daughter’s woebegone face and pulled her into a hug. “It’s okay, kiddo. I’m always breaking bowstrings. It happens. We just replace it.” He let her go and turned her towards the house. “Now go wash up. Mom will be getting lunch ready.”

“Okay,” she said, sounding a little better but still upset. 

Clint made a mental note to talk to her a bit more later as he walked towards the barn. Yeah, okay, she was screwing around with the bow but… it wasn’t like he could talk. With the things he’d done to and with his bows, it was a wonder he hadn’t broken more bowstrings over his career.

He had just put the bow on the bench when he realised there was someone in the barn. He didn’t move for a second then he slowly, unobtrusively reached for the knife that was hidden under the bench.

“I’m not here to hurt you, Mr Barton.”

The woman stepped out into the light and Clint frowned. She was wearing weird yellow robes and she was bald. She kind of looked like Bruce’s description of the woman he’d gotten the time stone from.

“Who the hell are you?” It was at that point that he noticed that he could actually see through the woman. His hand tightened around the hilt of the knife. “ _What_ the hell are you?”

“Dead mostly,” she said dryly. “So you can take your hand off that knife. It won’t do you any good.”

He didn’t move his hand but from the expression on her face, she hadn’t been expecting him to. “What. The fuck. Is going on?” he demanded through gritted teeth.

“I need your help.” She paused and looked thoughtful. “Or rather not I, personally, need your help but I, as a representative of others, need your help.” She paused again. “You are able to say no. You will not be punished for doing so.”

Clint’s eyes narrowed. “Representative of who?”

“Whom,” the woman said with a mischievous smirk then she sobered as she continued, “Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov and Loki.”

Clint froze and paled. “They’re dead.”

“Yes.”

“You’re dead.”

She nodded encouragingly. “Yes.”

He suddenly frowned. “Wait a minute… _Loki_?”

“I thought you might not be pleased at that but he is rather necessary for this,” the Ancient One said. 

“And what, exactly, is _this_?” he asked, wondering if he’d gone mad, whether all the shit he’d done in the last five years had tipped him over the edge in the end.

“You’re not mad,” the Ancient One said. “And no, I’m not reading your mind. For one as old as I was, your expressions are plain as day. As for what this is…” She paused and looked thoughtful. “Resurrection would be the simplest answer, I suppose.”

“Resurrection,” Clint said as a harsh, nauseous hope flared in his stomach. “Of… Nat? And Tony?”

The Ancient One nodded. “And Loki.”

Clint staggered away from the bench and sat down on a nearby crate. He cradled his head in his hands for a moment as he took long, deep breaths. When he raised his head again, the Ancient One was standing in the doorway of the barn, looking out over the farm. She seemed to realise he’d pulled himself together and she turned to face him he saw a wistful look fade away.

“Why?” he asked. “I mean… what…?”

The Ancient One chuckled. “That answer is very long and complicated but… you were right. Stephen picked the easy option and didn’t look for the right one. Not entirely his fault. I lacked the time to correct a few personality flaws he possessed before I died. My failings… Stephen’s failings… could have some dire consequences if they are not corrected. That is the only reason I have been able to do this. I’m pushing the wiggle room I negotiated to its absolute extent but…” She smirked. “That’s always been a specialty of mine.”

“So Tony and Nat…” he began, hope growing within him properly now.

“Are needed.” She paused and considered that. “Well, there is a possibility you could survive if they aren’t here but the odds aren’t good. In exchange for… some things you don’t need to know about, I was given an opportunity to change that. To improve the odds. So, are you in?”

He looked out at the farm as well and the small portion of the house he could see from here. He promised himself and Laura that he wouldn’t leave his family ever again but this… Laura would understand. He hoped.

“What do I have to do? We sent the stones back already.”

The Ancient One shook her head. “This is going to involve something a little different.”

“Am I going to need help?”

“Friends are always of value.” She hesitated. “But please leave Stephen out of this. There are things he needs to learn and I would rather he not be distracted while I’m teaching him.”

“Yeah, hadn’t planned on going to him,” Clint said sourly.

The Ancient One looked amused. “There are three artefacts you will need. You can find the first one at Stonehenge. Once you have it, I will speak to you again.”

“Wait!” Clint said but she’d already faded into nothing. He sighed. “ _Where_ in Stonehenge,” he muttered to himself as he got to his feet. He walked back to the house, marshalling his arguments for Laura but she took one look at his face and pulled him into the laundry, closing the door behind them.

“What happened? Where are you going?”

He opened his mouth then closed it again then finally sighed. “You’re not going to believe this.”

“Try me, buster.”

Clint took a deep breath and told her about the Ancient One and the offer she’d made. Laura was silent and still as he spoke and when he was done she turned away to look out the laundry door. Clint didn’t say anything, just waited for her to think it through. If she said no… well, he wasn’t sure what he’d do actually.

“When do you leave?”

Clint gaped for a moment then lurched forward to place a hand on her shoulder. “Are you sure? I made a promise…”

“Unless something big came up,” Laura said, turning to face him. “I agreed to that and this… this is something big.”

“Are you sure?” he asked again and when she nodded, he felt relief flood through him. “I need to make some calls then… tomorrow? Maybe tonight if some of the calls pan out the way I hope.”

Laura nodded, looking slightly worried now. “I’ll talk to the kids.”

Clint pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead. “I’ll be back. I promise.”

Laura leaned up and claimed a proper kiss. “You’d better, buster, or there’ll be trouble.”

Clint grinned and kissed her once more before letting her go and dashing into their makeshift office. He shoved the bills and other papers aside and found the key that unlocked the bottom drawer. He pulled out a sleek new Starkphone and shook his head with wry amusement as he scrolled through the contacts and made the first call.

“Rhodes?” he said when it was answered.

_“Yeah? What do you want, Barton?”_

Clint licked his lips nervously. “I’ve got something I think you’re going to want to be in on.”

There was silence at the other end of the line. _“I don’t do murder sprees,”_ came the dry response.

Clint caught himself and huffed out a sigh. “Yeah. I know. It’s not… Look, I just had a really weird encounter with the Ancient One.”

There was another long silence. _“She’s dead.”_

“I know and I thought I might be going nuts but she… well, I’m not.”

_“What the hell. I was just involved in a time heist for mystical ancient stones of universal power. I guess I can believe in the dead appearing with mysterious messages. What’s this about?”_

Clint hesitated. “What would you say if I told you there’s a chance at getting Nat and Tony back?”

_“I’d tell you to fuck off,”_ came the sharp, almost angry response.

“It’s not a joke,” Clint said hurriedly. “Apparently there’s some disaster coming… because isn’t there always… and while we might survive without them, there’s a better chance if they’re here. The Ancient One… it kinda sounds like she did some negotiating in wherever the hell it is she went when she died and… we have a chance to bring them back.”

There was dead silence at the other end of the line but Clint waited patiently. 

_“You’d better not be joking,”_ Rhodes finally said, his voice harsh and hoarse with things Clint understood completely.

“I’m not,” he said firmly, hoping Rhodes would hear how sincere he was.

_“Right,”_ Rhodes said and Clint could hear him swallow. _“Who else is involved in this?”_

“You’re the first one I called but I was thinking you, me, Bruce and if we can get him back, Thor.”

_“Thor?”_ Rhodes sounded surprised. _“Why him?”_

Clint sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Apparently Loki comes as part of the package deal.”

_“Great.”_

“Yeah, that’s what I said.”

_“I can get a message to the Guardians,”_ Rhodes said. _“But it might take some time for him to get back here. If he’s willing.”_

“Tell him it’s about Loki. That should do it.”

Rhodes snorted. _“Yeah. Listen, call Bruce. I’ll send a quinjet to you and you can pick him up if he’s in.”_

“Thanks.”

_“Where are we going?”_

“Stonehenge.”

_“Stonehenge? Why there?”_

“No idea,” Clint replied. “Other than apparently there’s an artefact we need to find there.”

_“What kind of artefact and where in Stonehenge? The Brits are going to get pissed at us if we start digging things up randomly.”_

Clint blinked. He hadn’t actually thought about that side of things. “Uh, I don’t know for both of them. The Ancient One sort of faded away before I could ask.”

Rhodes sighed. _“Okay. Awkward but we’ve got enough capital right now to not have any problems.”_

“Isn’t this kind of what Steve wanted to avoid with the Accords?” Clint asked, unable to stop himself.

_“No, this is exactly what we wanted from the Accords,”_ Rhodes snapped back, his irritation obvious. _“How would you like it if a bunch of European superheroes held a pitched battle where you live, knocked over your barn, destroyed part of your house, injured one of your kids, killed your wife then pissed off back to Europe without a word of explanation or apology? Because that is exactly what the Avengers were doing.”_

Clint rocked back in his seat and blinked. He’d… never actually thought about it that way. Never thought what it must look like to the people living where their battles were held. He’d just… assumed they’d understand because they were the Avengers. Now, though, he winced as he realised how stupid that sounded.

“Ah. Right. Yeah,” he said, feeling like a dumbass.

_“I’ll send the jet,”_ Rhodes said, his voice as dry as the desert. _“Let me know when you’re in the air.”_

“Will do,” Clint said hastily, happy to get back on track. Rhodes hung up and Clint turned back to make his next call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little tease - I wrote a line in the next chapter that I have been chortling over for the last few days. Hopefully it'll make you laugh as much as it did me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuff gets talked about and the quests begin!

“Shouldn’t we head off now and let Thor catch up?” Clint asked from where he was slouched at the table in the conference room.

Carol cocked her head and considered his question. “Did the Ancient One give you any sense that time was a factor?”

Clint replayed the conversation he’d had with the ghost in his barn. “Not really,” he said reluctantly.

“Then I think we can wait,” Carol replied, giving him a brief sympathetic look. “I know this has some huge ramifications but I’d feel better if you had Thor with you.” She huffed and looked faintly amused. “Just because the Ancient One hasn’t told you about the dangers of doing this, doesn’t mean there aren’t any.”

“Bruce…” Clint began.

“Is still having some smashing issues,” Carol said. “And not existential ones this time. His version of the serum is doing a pretty good job of healing the damage done by the Infinity Stones but it’s a slow process. I’d like another heavy hitter on the team, just to be sure.”

“What about Rhodes?”

“You don’t have Sam or Tony for this so he’ll be your primary air support,” Carol said.

“Where is Sam anyway?” Clint asked, picking up the arrow he’d put down just a few minutes ago.

“Off with Barnes,” Carol replied. She snorted. “They’re… finding themselves or something. I didn’t really ask too many questions.”

“Yeah, well, they were both pretty co-dependent on Cap so I suppose they have to,” Clint replied, a little sourly.

Carol quirked an eyebrow at that but didn’t pursue it. Clint was glad. He wasn’t really sure when he’d started rethinking things – or perhaps _thinking_ about things in the first place – but he was willing to admit to himself, even if no one else, that he might have fucked a few things up during the whole ‘Civil War’ thing. He’d like to think that he had more reasons for running when Steve called than because he was feeling butthurt because Tony _didn’t_ call but he was kind of struggling to figure out what they were. The Accords were never going to affect him because he was retired and he wasn’t dumb enough to think they would really tie their hands in the event of a worldwide emergency and he knew Wanda was in trouble because of Lagos because Steve wasn’t stepping up to tell anyone what was going on. So, butthurt was kind of looking like his sole reason and… _yeah_.

“Where’s Wanda?” he asked idly, now that the subject had come to mind.

“She’s trying to stay off the radar but the sorcerers are monitoring her pretty closely,” Carol replied.

Clint sat up a bit, suddenly alarmed. “What? Why?”

“Let’s just say they’ve come into possession of some information regarding how HYDRA trained her and some of her actions throughout the whole Ultron fiasco and they’re decidedly not happy.” She frowned. “How the hell did you justify bringing her into the Avengers? She’s a nightmare waiting to happen. Literally.”

Clint tensed. “Look. I know she did some things that were wrong,” he began defensively but Carol cut him off.

“Barton, killing someone for no reason is ‘doing something that was wrong’, as you well know.” Clint winced at the reminder of just how far off the rails he’d gone after the Snap but Carol kept going, “What she did for HYDRA – and as far as we can tell she did it _willingly_ and knowing it _was_ for HYDRA – is so far beyond that as to not even be on the same continent. Possibly not even the same planet.” She grimaced. “Actually, we can never let her _off_ the planet. Her abilities would see her arrested and, if she was lucky, executed on more planets than I can think of. Mind manipulation is not unknown out there and the use of it in the way she’s done is considered one of the most heinous crimes a being can commit.”

Clint was more than a bit taken aback and he wasn’t able to say anything because Carol barged onwards.

“The sorcerers are letting her be for the moment because all she’s really doing is being sad and moping but if she puts a foot out of line, they’ll take her into custody.” Carol dropped down into a chair on the opposite side of the table. “They’ll bind her abilities but they’ll then take her to Kamar Taj and see if she’s trainable. Mind you, they plan to offer her training anyway once they feel she’s in a better mindset. The hard line is only if she backslides into her old behaviour.”

“She _is_ trained,” Clint objected, feeling indignant as though this were a personal attack. He could see that it wasn’t but since he’d been one of Wanda’s biggest supporters, it felt like it. But despite that, Carol looked entirely too objective and even indifferent for it to be anything personal.

Carol snorted. “She’s been trained by HYDRA so yeah, she has skill and she has control over her abilities. The sorcerers are comfortable that nothing she does is due to a lack of control or skill but she was trained by _HYDRA_ so she’s had no training in ethics or the morality of having and using her abilities nor did she get any training along those lines after becoming an Avenger. That’s a serious lack and a very problematic one. The sorcerers are kind of side-eyeing the old regime here in a very judgemental manner.” She shrugged. “It’s been useful though for helping us set up the new rules and regs and training schedules and so on.”

Clint gave her a very troubled look. He had no reason to distrust Carol and she didn’t have any baggage when it came to either Ultron or HYDRA so if she was saying this then… “But what about Lagos. Nat said she lost control.”

Carol leaned back and scratched her chin. “Yeah, I’ve reviewed the footage of that, what there is of it anyway. Unfortunately there are no after action reports or debriefing notes, which made things difficult. According to the information we have, HYDRA trained her so that both her mental manipulation and the more force-oriented aspects of her abilities were under her control and they made sure that was true. They were not going to let her out on missions otherwise. Too dangerous and too much of a risk of bringing people’s attention to the fact HYDRA still existed in Sokovia. So we know her skill level is high and so is her control.”

Carol shrugged and put her feet up on the table. “You can see that displayed in Novi Grad during the Ultron fiasco – though the whole mind control without consent bit has everyone a bit concerned – and on the footage we have of the battle in Wakanda. Then we have her apparently ‘losing control’ in Lagos. The sorcerers are of the opinion that it was either laziness or malice and either way, she needs to be monitored.”

Clint’s attempt at a reply or a protest or whatever he was going to do was cut off by a familiar crashing sound from outside, distracting all of them. He leapt to his feet, Carol following suit, and they headed for the back of the building. They were joined on the way by Rhodes and Bruce and when they got outside they found not only Thor but also someone else they knew.

“Hey, Nebula,” Rhodes said with a grin. “Good to see you again.”

Nebula cocked her head slightly as though considering how she felt. “Likewise,” she finally said. “Thor said that there is a plan to bring Tony back. I want in.”

“Tony, Natasha and Loki,” Rhodes said. “And hell yeah, if you want in, I’m all for it. I need a voice of sanity around.”

That cracked Nebula’s impassive expression and the faintest of grins flickered across her face. 

“Understandable,” she said dryly, looking at Clint and then Thor.

Thor, for his part, just chuckled. He looked better than he had when they last saw him. He’d cut his hair a little and his beard was less unkempt and much more like what they were used to seeing. He was still heavy and pot-bellied but the slump of his shoulders had been replaced by a hopeful gleam in his eyes. “I would be proud to fight alongside Nebula. She is a formidable foe and a fine shieldsister.”

They could _all_ see that Nebula was both deeply uncomfortable and unaccountably touched by Thor’s words and irritated by both emotions – and probably Thor himself, all things being equal – so Carol stepped forward before things could go sideways.

“Come inside and we’ll give you the full briefing.”

They headed back to the conference room and sat down and Carol nodded to Clint. “You started all of this, you can start it off here.”

Clint got to his feet, not missing the suspicious look he got from Nebula. He wasn’t sure what Tony had told her on their trip back but he suspected that the blue woman had a pretty good working knowledge of what had gone on between the Avengers.

“Right. Okay,” he said awkwardly then he launched into his suspicions about what Strange had seen, coming to speak to Carol and then his visit from the Ancient One and the offer she’d made to him. Once he was done, he dropped back down into his seat and silence reigned for a moment.

“What did she look like? The Ancient One?” Bruce asked.

“About so high, yellow robes, bald head, _really_ piercing stare,” Clint said, measuring the height with his hand.

Bruce nodded slowly. “Yeah, that sounds like her.” He frowned. “And she came to you with this?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“I think you might be right about what Strange saw with the Time Stone,” Bruce said as he rubbed at his shoulder. “She was very much against meddling with time lines until I told her that Strange had given up the stone to Thanos. It was only then that she was willing to give me the stone. So, if this is something she’s doing…” He grimaced. “We must be really screwed by whatever’s coming if Tony and Nat aren’t here.”

“Comforting to know,” Rhodes said dryly.

“What is it we seek at this Stonehenge place?” Nebula asked, leaning forward intently and pinning Clint with her gaze.

“An artefact,” Clint said, shifting slightly. He’d thought the Ancient One had a piercing stare but Nebula had her beaten without even trying, mostly because the Ancient One’s piercing stare felt more like she was assessing you but Nebula’s felt like she was looking for the best place to start the dissection. “She didn’t say what it was or where to look. She did say that she’s made an exchange of some sort to do this so I don’t know whether she’s restricted in how much help she can give us.”

“The British government have given us permission to do what we need,” Carol said. “Though they ask that we remember that Stonehenge is considered to be a site of great importance and consequence and they’d very much like it to be left standing once we’re done.”

Rhodes raised an eyebrow. “Try not to knock the stones down. Got it.”

Carol gave him a long look that he responded to with a grin. She laughed then turned to Thor and Nebula. “We’ve got some rooms here if you two want to rest. They’re not much but there’s a bed at least.”

“Let’s get going,” Nebula said, getting to her feet.

“Aye,” Thor said, standing as well. “We are both well rested and travelling via the bifrost is of no great hardship.”

“Okay,” Carol said. “Good luck.”

******

“Well, this looks like a fun place.”

Tony looked around the desolate, ruined landscape and wrinkled his nose. He wasn’t surprised to find himself in his Iron Man armour since apparently being able to just think about something personal and have it happen was part of being dead. Beside him, Natasha and Loki had apparently had the same idea because Natasha was wearing her full Black Widow gear and Loki was in the get up he was wearing in Stuttgart… minus the sceptre.

“Svartalfheim,” Loki said with a grimace. “It was the home of the Dark Elves.”

“Gesundheit,” Tony said. “So, you’ve been here before.”

“I have.” The barest smirk curved Loki’s lips. “I… _died_ here.”

“So we heard,” Natasha said dryly. “What are we doing here?”

“Looking for something, no doubt,” Loki replied.

Tony looked around. “Yeah but what?”

“I don’t know.”

“You know… it’s kind of hard to do this when we don’t actually know what we’re looking for,” Tony groused.

“My guess is that it would be in the ruins of the city,” Loki replied. He pointed in one direction. “That way.”

Tony gave him a sceptical look. “How the hell do you know that?”

“The Dark Elves held the Reality Stone for millennia,” Loki replied. “It’s magical signature still lingers.” Tony and Natasha stared at him and he huffed out a sigh. “Obviously we’re not looking for the Reality Stone since you’ve told me it was destroyed but, like Asgard, the Dark Elves kept their treasures in one place. Likely whatever we _are_ looking for was held there as well.”

Loki frowned and cocked his head. “Though I find it strange that the stones were able to be destroyed in the first place.”

Tony exchanged another look with Natasha then started walking in the direction Loki had indicated. The other two caught up and he shot a glance at the god of mischief.

“What did you mean about the stones?”

“They’re cosmic entities as it were,” Loki said. “The remnants of six singularities that predated the creation of the universe. The Big Bang, I believe you Midgardians call it. That event caused them to coalesce into the form we known them as but they retain that power.”

“Wait…” Tony said with a frown. “If they survived the Big Bang, how was Thanos able to destroy them?”

Loki arched an eyebrow. “Precisely my question.”

“So he didn’t,” Natasha replied.

Loki was silent as they walked. “I do not believe that one man, no matter how powerful, could destroy the Infinity Stones. However, I do believe that they would allow him to think that he has. What their purpose is… I do not know. I’m not sure anyone knows. But I don’t think it was the use Thanos put them to.”

“So they’re still out there somewhere?” Natasha said, looking slightly displeased.

“Yes,” Loki said. “Though I doubt you would find them in the locations you currently know. They would find new homes.” He shrugged. “The universe is large and much of it is still undiscovered. They could remain hidden for millennia.”

“Because that’s not at all reassuring,” Tony said dryly.

Loki cocked an eyebrow at him. “If it is any consolation, it is unlikely they would all be found again within any of our lifetimes.”

Tony made a scrunchy face then laughed. “Yeah, I suppose it is.”

They crested a hill and looked down into a large valley. In the middle lay the ruins of what had clearly once been a great city. Now it was destroyed and large sections had been reclaimed by the black sand and dirt that they walked on. In the centre of the city lay a few buildings that were still reasonably intact, the largest of which still had most of its walls.

“I’m guessing we’re heading for _that_ building,” Tony said, pointing to the large, central building. “It does sort of scream ‘I was once really important’.”

“Well, you’d know,” Natasha said with an impish grin.

Tony gave her a pained look though there was too much amusement running underneath to take it seriously. “Hey, stop dissing my monument to my ego. You are always the one going after me about that after all.”

Natasha sighed. “I wasn’t referring to your phallic substitute…”

“Hey,” Tony protested, grinning now. “I’ll have you know I don’t need a phallic substitute. Everyone with access to YouTube knows that.”

Natasha rolled her eyes but there was a smile playing over her lips. “Yes, we know. Over two million hits, wasn’t it?”

“Closer to three actually.”

“Of course you know that,” Natasha teased. “Aren’t you supposed to be Mr Mom these days?”

“I may be a Dad but I’m not dead,” he intoned then he paused and looked around comically. “Oh, wait…”

Natasha gave a long-suffering sigh. “ _Tony_.”

“Was that too soon?” he said, grinning at her. 

“Idiot,” she said fondly. 

“If you two are finished with the comedy routine,” Loki said dryly.

Both Natasha and Tony snickered then Tony whirled around to face Loki. “Wait. They have comedy routines on Asgard.”

Loki snorted. “We usually called it Fandral and Volstagg.” He rolled his eyes. “I have spent time observing Midgard, Stark. I would be an idiot not to learn the ways of those I move among.”

“That sounds both suspicious and ominous,” Tony replied.

Loki smirked smugly. “I know.”

“Besides, he had access to Clint’s mind and I know exactly what kind of dumpster fire that is,” Natasha said dryly.

Loki nodded. “There is that,” he said in a sage tone that was completely undermined by the amusement gleaming in his eyes.

Tony snickered. “How the hell did Barton manage to convince someone like Laura to marry him?”

“Blackmail,” Natasha replied with absolute deadpan before she snickered as well. “No, he has his good points.”

Tony eyed her curiously. “You and he never…” He waved a finger.

Natasha snorted and rolled her eyes. “No. I won’t say we didn’t consider it once or twice before he met Laura but…” She shrugged. “He’s my best friend. I mean… would you marry Rhodes?”

“In a heartbeat,” Tony said without hesitation and while he was smiling, there was something about him that told them he was absolutely sincere. Then he shrugged and deliberately slapped a blithe expression on his face. “So would Pepper for that matter. Don’t think we haven’t discussed it after a few glasses of wine.”

“So why didn’t you?” Natasha asked and if she was teasing, it was only a little. “You’ve got the money and influence to pull it off.”

Tony snorted. “Rhodey has been pining for Carol Danvers for years. He was devastated when she went missing.” He paused and cocked his head. “Though I think there was someone called Maria involved there as well. I never quite got the details. I was pretty busy trying to drown myself in booze, drugs and willing bodies back then and by the time I resurfaced in any meaningful way, my sugarplum had it all under control.”

Natasha was silent for a moment then she snickered. “You know… that explains so much about what was going on between the two of them during those five years. Their body language was all over the place and I could never quite pin it down. It was annoying and I eventually gave up.”

“You? Gave up?” Tony said with surprise.

Natasha sighed. “It just… didn’t seem worth it. Not a lot did. Most of the time it felt like we were just tilting at windmills but we had to… keep going, I guess.”

Tony grimaced and looked away. Natasha had contacted him a few times early on, asking for assistance from Iron Man, but he’d turned her down each time, usually politely and asking Rhodey to go in his stead to make up for it. Nobody had ever complained and… once Morgan had been born, even those few requests ceased.

“Why did you let Barton get away with what he was doing for so long?” he asked, moving the topic in a slightly different direction. “Rhodey told me what he was up to.”

Natasha sighed again. “Because most of the time he was actually doing some good.”

“By butchering criminals? I mean, sure, I hate criminals too but slaughtering them isn’t a good look.”

“They were traffickers,” Natasha replied. “Not all of them but a lot of them. Human trafficking, especially of children, skyrocketed after the Snap. Huge numbers of kids were left without parents or guardians, some without any family at all. The governments around the world were in turmoil and law enforcement was shattered and took months to get back on its feet and even then was consistently short-handed. Those most likely to fall through the gaps were kids and they did… in droves.”

“I… didn’t know,” Tony said, feeling a little shocked. He hadn’t even thought about that sort of thing.

“I know,” Natasha replied. “And I didn’t tell you – and told Rhodes not to say a thing – because you had Morgan by the time we found out.” She smiled faintly. “And I know you, Tony. If you’d known, you’d have tossed everything in to get those kids out. I wasn’t about to do that to you, Pepper or Morgan.”

Tony looked troubled but nodded anyway. “And Barton…?”

“Was directed towards the trafficking groups as much as possible,” Natasha replied. “I knew who his contacts were and was able to control the flow of information to a certain extent.”

Tony nodded slowly. “But still…”

“I know,” Natasha said. “But you didn’t know Clint from before the Avengers. He’s always had a dark side, Tony. Laura mitigated a lot of that but it was always there. SHIELD didn’t recruit him because Fury woke up one morning and decided he wanted an archer on the payroll. Clint earned their attention.”

Loki, who had been watching all of this silently, now spoke. “I didn’t force him to do what he did.” He paused. “Well, I did to a certain extent but not to the extent you might think. He still had a large amount of autonomy. I would set him a task. How he carried it out was up to him.”

Tony gave them both a look then frowned as he thought it through. Finally he shook his head slightly and sighed. “I suppose it doesn’t matter now anyway. What’s done is done.” He narrowed his eyes at Loki. “How much of that invasion was you half-assing things? Because that was the worst invasion I’ve ever seen.”

Loki chuckled. “You might be surprised, Stark.”

“Tony.”

Loki frowned slightly. “Pardon?”

“Tony. It’s my name. You could try using it.”

Loki looked nonplussed then he ventured a little hesitantly. “Tony.”

“Yes, dear?” Tony contrived to look innocent.

The exasperated look he got in return was familiar and made both him and Natasha laughed. Loki narrowed his eyes at them then smirked.

“I believe I prefer Anthony.”

“Ugh,” Tony said with a roll of his eyes. “Trust you to be contrary.”

Loki’s smirk widened. “How does the phrase go… I do what I want.”

Tony threw his hands in the air. “Argh. Let’s get on with this. Large important building. Let’s go.”

He stomped down the rise with Natasha and Loki trailing behind him and snickering. When he was sure they couldn’t see his face, he grinned. This was, surprisingly enough, actually kind of fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't watched T:TDW for ages so I can't remember if the Dark Elves really held the Reality Stone for a while but this is my AU so I'm going to say they did. So there. :P :D

**Author's Note:**

> This was sort of a prologue kind of thing to set a few things up. The next chapter has actual plot!


End file.
